what became of me, and why I went into the French army. Don't let
them think that I turned traitor. I would shoot myself rather than run
the risk of having to fight Englishmen. But when it is a choice between
fighting Russians and going out of my mind, I prefer shouldering a
French musket. I will write the letter to-day. There is no saying when
they may next call for volunteers; for, as you know, those who step
forward are taken away at once, so as to prevent their being persuaded
by the others into drawing back."

The next day Julian wrote his letter. He recapitulated the arguments he
had used to the mate, and bade Frank and his aunt a final farewell. "I
may, of course, get through the campaign," he said. "The French soldiers
here seem to think that they will sweep the Russians before them, but
that is their way. They talked of sweeping us out of the Peninsula, and
they haven't done it yet; and there is no doubt that the Russians are
good soldiers, and will make a big fight of it. I hope you won't feel
cut up about this, and really I care little whether I leave my bones in
Russia or not. It may be twenty years or even longer before that fellow
Markham's letter arrives to clear me. And until then I cannot return to
England, or at any rate to Weymouth; indeed, wherever I was, I should
live with the knowledge that I might at any moment be recognized and
arrested. Therefore while others here have some hope of a return home,
either by an exchange of prisoners or by the war coming to an end, I
have nothing to look forward to. So you see, old fellow, that it is as
well as it is.

"I have to earn my own living somehow, and this way will suit me better
than most. Only, of one thing be sure, that if at the end of the Russian
war I return alive, and my regiment is sent where there is a chance of
fighting our people, I shall take an opportunity of deserting. As I have
told you, I can speak French fairly well now, and after a few months in
a French regiment I shall be able to pass as a native, and should have a
good chance of making my way somehow through the country to the
frontier. My idea at present is that I should make for Genoa and ship
there as a sailor on board an Italian vessel, or, better still, if we
happen to be masters of the place, or our fleet near, should either
enlist in one of our regiments, or ship on board one of our men-of-war.
I should, of course, take another name, and merely say that I had been
captured by